Author: Ciaran McMahon

LtoR: Wayne Allerton, Mick Murphy & Callum Feeney.

The KYSA is once again offering keen soccer players an opportunity to take part in its annual High Performance Soccer Schools featuring coaches from Stoke City FC of the English Premier Soccer League.

Stoke City FC coaches Mick Murphy and Wayne Allerton will be returning to Kamloops for the 5th straight year to instruct at the Schools while Callum Feeney will be appearing for the second successive year.

The KYSA’s High Performance Soccer Schools––for players aged 10-17––is set to run from Tuesday, August 8 to Friday, August 11. The boy’s camp will run from 9:00am to 11:30am daily and the camp for girls will run from 1:00pm to 3:30pm daily. The association is offering a special goalkeeper’s component during each school.

The per-player registration fee for the KYSA HP Soccer Schools is $170,00. Family discounts and team packages are also available.

“I encourage any player who is serious about the game to sign-up,” says KYSA Executive Director, Keith Liddiard. “Anyone who takes part will learn a lot from these experienced individuals, who have a combined 50 years of coaching experience!

“Participants will also have a lot of fun in the sessions,” Liddiard adds. “Mick, Wayne and Callum are great guys. They know how to make learning and training a truly enjoyable experience. In addition to their roles with Stoke City, they teach all over the world working for the English Premier League’s outreach program.

In addition to the Stoke City FC HP camps, the KYSA is offering a variety of week-long soccer schools for players age 5 up to 14 during the month of August.

For more information, visit the KYSA web site at kysa.net or call their office at 250-376-3750.

 

Graduating high school soccer players who are, or have been, registered with the Kamloops Youth Soccer Association (KYSA) are eligible to apply for one of nine scholarships the association will be awarding in 2017.

KYSA Scholarships are awarded to students proceeding from Grade 12 to a university or post-secondary institution approved by the KYSA Scholarship Awards Selection Committee and/or students already attending a post-secondary institute, but are registered with the KYSA for the 2017 season.

All KYSA Scholarship Awards are valued at $500 each.

To qualify, an applicant for a KYSA Scholarship Award must have been registered in the association for three or more seasons, not necessarily consecutive.

The nine awards and the donors are:

1.    McDonald’s Restaurants of Kamloops
2.    Bank of Montreal
3.    Chopped Leaf
4.    Hansport (Male)
5.    Hansport (Female)
6.    Errol Wild Family Memorial Scholarship
7.    Forward Law LLP
8.    Kamloops Youth Soccer Association (Male)
9.    Kamloops Youth Soccer Association (Female)

Additional information on the KYSA’s scholarship program and application forms are available on the association’s web site at kysa.net. Hard copies of the application form can also be obtained from the KYSA office on McArthur Island.

KYSA Scholarship recipients will be chosen based on a variety of criteria, such as the applicant’s participation in school activities, their leadership qualities, sportsmanship and time spent volunteering with church or community organizations. Soccer talent is just one of the yardsticks the selectors use to determine the award recipients. A candidate’s contributions as a referee, coach or manager in the KYSA is also taken into consideration.

Applications for this year’s KYSA Scholarship Awards must be received in the KYSA office by 4:00pm, Wednesday, May 31st.

The Kamloops Youth Soccer Association (KYSA) has announced the hiring of a new full-time Senior Staff Coach.

Thirty-eight-year-old Mark Bell will take up his new position in February, moving from Langley, BC where he currently resides.

Mark is a Canadian Soccer National B Licence coach. He also holds a National Soccer Coaches Association of America Advanced National Coaching Diploma. He most recently served as an assistant coach of the Douglas College Women’s Soccer Team in New Westminster. The Douglas College Royals reached the finals of the 2016 CCAA National Championships held in Montreal, November 9-12, where they finished with the Bronze Medal––the first time the College Women’s Team has returned with some silverware.

In addition to his role with the College team, Mark was a staff coach for the Westview High School Soccer Academy in Maple Ridge as well as a paid coach with the West Coast Auto Group FC in Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows. He also runs his own “Simple Soccer” Player Academy in the summer months.

Over the past decade, Mark has also had coaching roles in the Medicine Hat Soccer Association, the Lower Island Soccer Association BCSPL and Super Y programs, the Vancouver Island Soccer Academy, as well as Bays United, Prospect Lake, Lakehill and Gorge soccer clubs in Greater Victoria. He also had the opportunity to work with the Victoria Highlanders Women’s semi-pro team who played in the USL W-League.

“We are delighted to welcome Mark to Kamloops and to our association,” says KYSA President Candace Dodson-Willis. “He will be a big help to our Technical Director (Ciaran McMahon), who is stretched to the limit trying to service a membership of 3,500 players, 400 coaches and a myriad of coach and player development programs.

“We see Mark having a very visible on-field presence and spending a lot of time mentoring our volunteer coaches,” adds Dodson-Willis. “He was a high level player in his younger days and has since become a well-qualified and very experienced coach. We expect him to become an integral part of our organization going forward.”

The KYSA board of directors moved to hire a new full time coach in October of last year with the goal of providing assistance for their Technical Director, who, since joining the association over two years ago, has been working extraordinary hours expanding and improving upon the association’s coach and player development programs.

Bell was selected from 60 applicants with resumes being received from all four corners of the globe.

Bell, who gained valuable experience working in the Arsenal Football Club’s summer programs in England in 2000, before moving on to start his professional coaching career a year later with Total Soccer Systems in Richmond, BC, says, “I have worked in some great environments that include youth clubs, high schools, private academies, and most recently at the college level, but to now have this opportunity with KYSA is a dream come true! I am very excited and honoured to work alongside Ciaran and the rest of the KYSA board and staff who have done an amazing job turning this soccer club into what it is today and I’m hoping my passionate, positive, patient style of coaching helps impact all the players and coaches in Kamloops for years to come!”

The KYSA board of directors have elected a new President at its monthly board meeting held December 19, 2016.

Candace Dodson-Willis was elected from within the 7-person board, comprised of volunteers who themselves have been elected by the association’s membership at the KYSA Annual General Meeting.

Dodson-Willis has served on the KYSA board for the past two years. This past year (2016) she held the position of Vice-President. Candace also served as the chair of the Select Program Committee and the organization’s Employment Committee.

Candace is married to Colin Willis. The couple have two children who both play in the KYSA––16-year-old daughter Laurenne and 10-year-old son Emerson.

She has been a coach of house league teams for the past six years and has played in the Kamloops Women’s Soccer League for 10 years.

Professionally, Candace is an independent Employee Benefits Consultant.

The President and Vice-President of KYSA are elected from within the board of directors of the association on an annual basis.

Dodson-Willis replaces Graham Cope, who has served as KYSA President for the past 10 years.

“Graham has done a fantastic job as President,” says Dodson-Willis. “He has built the KYSA into one of the most respected youth soccer organizations in the province. His vision and leadership has taken KYSA to great heights. I hope to be able to build on the success he has achieved and continue to help the association grow and prosper in the years ahead!”

Though no longer President, Cope will serve out the remaining year of his two-year term in 2017 as the Immediate Past President to assist Dodson-Willis in her new role.

At the same meeting, the KYSA board chose Rod Gurnsey as the association’s new Vice-President.